Running from Peter Burke
by mybrotherharry
Summary: You don't need Peter Burke chasing you. Because once he starts, he won't rest till you tumble and fall, right into his arms. Elizabeth and Neal POVs. Peter/Elizabeth, Peter/Neal.


**A/N: **

**Disclaimer: I don't own White Collar, Neal Caffrey, Peter Burke, Tim DeKay or Matt Bomer. Though the idea of owning Matt Bomer does wonderful things to my imagination.**

**Warnings: This story involves a male/male relationship, relationship outside of marriage and a tiny little gay kiss. If that bothers you, please go away. Nothing explicit.**

**Summary: "You don't need Peter Burke chasing you. Because once he starts, he won't rest till you tumble and fall, right into his arms."**

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**Elizabeth**

She sees him for the first time after the jewellery theft at Maya's boutique. She is young, new at her job, fresh and still taking in the sights of New York. She has dated many men but all of them left her wanting something more. Most weren't even worth the effort. She sees him for the first time, standing in a long black cloak, questioning the shop owner on every small detail. She remembers noting his straight shoulders, the broad back and perhaps, most importantly the fire in those russet eyes. She remembers seeing him turn away from the store and she remembers thinking then that she was letting something amazing from her grasp.

He comes back the next day and smiles at her. She thinks the world lights up like a christmas tree. He hesitates. He says 'please' and 'thank you' and 'please give me a call if you have any more trouble' and 'sorry to bother you again'. He is politer than all the men she has met in New York in two years. He is hesitant and shy. He blushes when she brushes her palm against his, accidentally of course.

He comes back the next day to take in the suspect - Hilary, a sales girl in the rubies section. She is sad to watch him go. She is sad that the case is closed. Mostly, she is sad that she will never see those russet eyes again.

But she tells herself that she has had enough of New York men and their wanton selfishness. She guards herself from Agent Burke and his quiet charisma. But not enough.

'Ms. Elizabeth?'

She hears the deep baritone and something in her thrills. She thinks it is adorable that he calls her by her first name instead of her last. It makes her feel like the classic Austen heroine. Her treacherous mind does throw up an image of Agent Burke in breeches with Darcy-sideburns and she is blushing when she turns around to face him.

'It was a pleasure getting to know you. Thank you so much for all the co-operation you gave us.'

'Not at all,' she replies.

He leaves but comes back the next day. He makes crazy excuses. Some incomplete questioning in relation to the case, paperwork to be filed out, then several weeks later, he walks in to buy a bracelet for his mother. She does her best not to encourage his rather obvious feelings, to not be encouraged by his hopes but he never gives up. He never gives up even though it is apparent at most times that he is shocked at his own courage.

He does the craziest things. He shows up at the coffee-place she frequents each morning on her way to work. He tells her that he goes there too, though she distinctly remembers him telling her he doesn't like any coffee made outside his office. Its wierd how many small things she knows about him, about how the corners of his mouth crinkle up every time he smiles and how the honesty in those eyes bore deep wells of affection in her heart.

Its been six months into their 'courting-not-courting' games when he is talking to her about how much he loves this new Italian restaurant downtown. That is when she decides. Because she tried running and he kept coming after her. Because when you run from the very core of your life, what will you run to?

Because once Peter Burke starts chasing you, he won't rest till you tumble and fall, right into his arms.

It is the thought of those warm, protective arms that drive her to find the biggest sharpie in the shop to write:  
"I 3 ITALIAN!"

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**Neal**

He sees him for the first time in a badly taken photograph that Mozzie hands him.

'This is the agent who has taken up your case,' says Mozzie. 'Burke. New in the field but great reputation. He's good.'

Soon, Neal finds out how good Peter Burke is. Initially, Peter is confused. And Neal takes joy in confusing him. Peter can't read Neal yet, can't understand him the way he will understand him six months down the line. But soon, Neal is running and running for his life. After Peter forces him to switch to his fifth alias in a month, Neal decides he likes this FBI agent. FBI agents are usually boring and idiotic. They are repetitive and predictable. No sense of adventure, no appreciation of real beauty. But this agent has both. Neal decides that he must meet this Peter Burke. He's smart and Neal loves smart.

While Peter researches Neal, Neal researches Peter. Neal soon decides that he loves Elizabeth more than he likes Peter. He watches from afar and overhears her conversations with co-workers. She is always happy, she loves her husband and she loves her job. He hears her tell Mindy, her assistant about this new conman her husband is chasing. She is sure he will catch the guy.

She is the reason why he flies to Rome and steals a Raphael the day before the Burkes' wedding anniversary. Peter will know Neal is not in the country and the case will take a minimum of ten days to pass jurisdiction from Interpol to FBI. Neal steals the Raphael so that Elizabeth can have Peter for their anniversary.

Peter works too hard, tries too hard to catch him. And even though Neal knows that Peter's efforts are directed toward putting him away in maximum security for good, he can't but help admire the force of nature that is Peter Burke. He gives chase just because its fun to watch Peter chase him. It awakens something very primal in him, a quality that he didn't think he possessed.

He loves iamused-Peter/i. Amused-Peter is the guy who laughs when Neal sends Pizza for everyone in the surveillance van, people who would have otherwise skipped dinner because of him.

He loves iirritated-Peter/i. Irritated Peter is the guy whose eyebrow twitches in frustration when his team of agents don't keep up with him.

He loves ikind-Peter/i. Kind Peter is the guy who treats his convicts with respect after he catches them, kind Peter is the best Peter, Neal decides.

Kate doesn't understand his fascination with the geeky FBI agent. She says its too dangerous. He agrees with her, but he likes the danger. She thinks he has lost him mind. He thinks he has never used his mind more than in the last six months. A part of him wishes that Peter would win already, so that he could come face-to-face with the man he admires, the man he wishes he were more like, the man he wishes his father had been.

For a fleeting moment, he imagines a life where he grew up in the Burkes' household. Elizabeth would have put his art on the refrigerator and Peter would have taught him baseball in the backyard. He shakes his head to come back to reality.

He runs again. With Peter hot on his trail, he doesn't have a choice anymore. Of all the things that Peter could grab him on, he goes for bond forgery. He runs. But it is a bit like being chased by Superman. He lives in every European country in a ten day period, but Peter is there in each one, a step behind him each time.

He knows, he knows that day when he receives the dubious tip regarding Kate's whereabouts. He knows that it is very likely that he will end the day with handcuffs around his wrists. But he goes to see her anyway. Because he is tired of running. He is tired of running from life, he is tired of Kate running from him and he is tired of never getting to see the man who makes him run so.

Because once Peter Burke starts chasing you, he won't rest till he is shaking your cuffed hand.

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**Neal +1**

**(Set after Neal's four year sentence. Neal stays on as a private consultant for the FBI on a paycheck.)**

This time, Neal runs from Peter's love.

Every cell of his body wants him to turn around and walk right into Peter's open arms. But his conman-brain tells him to run as far away as possible. To do otherwise would mean grabbing his fragile heart and handing it to a FBI agent on a platter to break into tiny pieces. His mind tells him that it will never work, that Peter has a lovely wife who is solid, stable and honest. That Peter deserves someone better. That Peter actually has someone better.

Besides, he knows that Peter's wanting him is only temporary blindness. Every man who has worked closely with Neal before has wanted him, whether straight or gay. Its lust and nothing more. Neal is used to people wanting him. Peter just took longer than most men, because well, Peter is not most men.

So when, one morning Peter shows up earlier than usual at June's to pick Neal up, the conman is surprised. When Peter sits down to talk to him, about how he has fallen in love with Neal and about how El is surprisingly open to the idea and will Neal please, please open his mouth and just say something - Neal is shocked. Its a moment for the ages. Not a lot of things in the world leave Neal Caffrey speechless.

Eventually, Neal recovers enough to shake his head and turn away a dejected Peter. He throws him a 'are-you-insane look?' but Peter barely notices. Neal knows Peter well enough by now to understand his moods just by looking into his eyes. Neal's rejection is followed by a split-second crinkling of the eyebrows, the look that says sorrow and disappointment. It is barely there before being replaced by the more dangerous Peter Burke look. The look of determination. The look which says, 'let me see how long you can run from me.'

If something terrifies Neal and thrills him in equal measure, it is THAT look in Peter's eyes.

Then, the wooing starts. He receives flowers and presents, invitations to exhibits and art galleries, requests for dinner dates and luncheons and so much more that the great Caffrey is in danger of being overwhelmed. The unexpected part however is how much help Peter gets from Mozzie and El. Its like Neal versus the terrific trio. Neal spends most of his time battling three wills instead of just Peter's.

In a way, it is like the chase again. Peter's approach to romance is not very different from the way he approaches a manhunt. The target is left with no escape routes and sees Peter and only Peter at every turn.

It is weird how Jones and Diana get on Team Burke as well. Even Reese Hughes, for crying out loud. Doesn't the FBI have a no-fraternization policy or don't consultants count? Neal could never understand their stupid rules anyway.

But nobody changes more than Peter himself. He starts dressing better, avoids deviled ham if they are going to be together in the van for long periods of time and carefully flatters Neal till Peter is the beginning and end of all that which surrounds him. Peter's always been there - strong, solid, reliable Peter, the only man Neal could and will ever trust. But this Peter is new. He is fresh and reliable in a different way, in a 'be-my-lover' kind of way.

Neal's mind is still telling him its a terrible idea. He is too used to people leaving him to risk falling in love now. None of the people he has loved have stayed by his side. It is a jinx. Peter is the only thing left for him, to hell if he is risking letting that go.

What people don't understand at first sight is that Peter is as much of a conman as Neal is. Peter plots and plans and executes with as much thoroughness as Neal executes a heist. Neal knows this and is on guard, but nothing could have prepared him for the onslaught that is Peter Burke on a mission. It is not as though he does not know why Peter suddenly wears pants that are exquisitely tight at all the right places or why Peter spends more and more time with him in t-shirts and body-hugging jeans. The man puts the m in manipulate.

The problem is that the ridiculous things which Peter does work wonders for Neal's psyche. Neal is sufficiently distracted when Peter's ass is covered in THOSE pants or when Peter goes shirtless on a particularly hot afternoon at Neal's. There is something about those broad shoulders and that muscled chest that screams 'protective, safe' at Neal, someone who has craved protective and safe all his life.

It is pouring cats and dogs that day when Neal's will finally tumbles and falls. Peter is late that morning. Peter is never late. Forty minutes later, Peter is wet and drenched and walking into the office, his suit ruined, skin flushed and hair messy. Neal opens his mouth to ask all the obvious questions before Peter is striding up to him like a Roman emperor, hands Neal a bouquet of very wet red roses and says,  
'Happy Birthday!'

That is when Neal realizes that it is not actually the fifth of February, the date the FBI has on records as the birth date of Neal Caffrey, that it IS actually the eleventh of October, the date nobody knows about, not even Mozzie, his real birthday, the birthday he celebrated before he became Neal Caffrey. That is when Neal knows that Peter knows, that Peter knows him better than anyone else. That Peter holds a unique position of power in his life but he has done nothing with that power, nothing with that information than to simply buy Neal flowers on his real birthday, a day he has not thought of in special terms since his teen years.

That is the moment that Neal's steel-solid will collapses like a deck of cards.

He closes the gap between them in one swift movement and meets Peter's stunned lips with his own. Time stands still in the White Collar division for the duration of the kiss, and when they break apart, Neal's blue eyes meet Peter's russet brown. The look in those eyes now is one of pure joy and yes, a sign of a mighty triumph. Neal falls into those arms again and tells his scolding mind that he didn't really have a chance at running.

iBecause once Peter Burke starts chasing you, he won't rest till you tumble and fall, right into his arms./i  
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End file.
